Trade Federation (Canon Universe)
The Trade Federation was a very powerful Republic commerce guild, trade cartel, megacorporation, and lobbying group that was founded in 350 BBY as an association of business and trade groups with its own commercial trade fleet. The Federation grew to dominate entire star systems and all major trade routes, and possessed a formidable private military. Toward the end of the Republic, it would become increasingly dominated by the commerce-savvy Neimoidians. The Trade Federation was the main faction that was responsible for the discovery of the Milky WAy and Planet Earth, after discovering and studying the Black Hole in an unidentified quadrant, after a Federation vessel went missing in 36 BBY, the Federation was also known as the first military beings of Star Wars to leave the Galaxy and Invade another galaxy that is no longer apart of their own. The Federation played a major role in the Far Away War, Clone Wars for its allegiance to the Confederacy of Independent Systems. It was dissolved and imperialized upon the Galactic Empire's formation in 19 BBY but was not officially disbanded until the Imperial Senate was dissolved in 0 BBY. History 'Pre-Clone Wars' 'Origins' The Trade Federation was founded in the Colonies in 350 BBY as a Republic-charted organization tasked with mediating disputes between the galaxy's merchants and shipping firms. At the time, transportation megacorporations such as Pulsar Supertanker, Quasar Cargo, Red Star Shipping Lines, and Ororo Transportation were stifling commerce by shutting out competitors from Rim spaceports and refusing to share navigational data. The Federation, initially composed of many species, including the Neimoidians, helped curb such abuses, and within a hundred years had become a powerful shipping cartel in its own right. The Federation was originally controlled by a directorate, which was led by a commanding Viceroy. The Trade Federation's members increasingly worked together to negotiate more favorable rates and policies, and also contracted with Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc. to build a new fleet of LH-3210 cargo freighters. By 250 BBY, the Trade Federation had advanced beyond its original mission and had become a powerful association lobbying to advance trade interests in the Galactic Senate. It also worked to open up new regions of the galaxy to trade and commerce, with the Trade Explorer Corps blazing numerous new routes into the Outer Rim and establishing networks of retail outlets, depots, waystations and landing fields in thousands of isolated systems. As its power grew, the Trade Federation found itself having to defend its transports from piracy. Rather than rely on corrupt or ineffectual Planetary Security Forces, the Federation established its own Trade Defense Force, which became a capable and well-regarded paramilitary that earned the respect and admiration of the Republic's Judicial Forces. The Trade Federation of the late 200s BBY was seen by many as the ideal Republic institution: run by a diverse group of species and interests, it represented its members capably and fairly on Coruscant, made investments that advanced commerce across the galaxy, and augmented the power of the Judicials and Planetary Security Forces with the Trade Defense Force. And illustrative example can be seen in the Rseik sector in 214 BBY: the sector had an endemic problem with piracy, and in the aftermath of the Bordal Contagion, the firms Kett Shipping, Rseikharhl Hullspace, Cotellieri Transports Limited, and the Ma'ar Shaddam Weaponsmiths Guild decided to approach the Trade Federation for aid. Following a secret meeting with a Balmorran Federation agent on the planet Syned, all parties agreed to become Federation subsidiaries. The Federation moved in a flotilla of gunboats and system patrol craft via Svivren, along with with a pair of Munifex-class light cruisers and a Captor-class heavy munitions cruiser. On their first convoy escort to Kabal, they were ambushed by the Fujari pirates at Tertiary Fujar. In the course of an hour, the Fujari pirates and their asteroid base were completely destroyed by the Trade Defense Force. A week later the TDF destroyed the Hajara pirate gang. Within a decade the Trade Federation had upgraded spaceport facilities at Kirdo III and Laria, established a depot for goods at Tyne Albamon, blazed a faster route to Svivren, and installed a TDF marine post at the Dravian Starport. By that time, Kett Shipping was running more than twenty convoys a year without a single loss. 'Cartelization' As its power grew, the Trade Federation became a cartel in its own right, dominating galactic trade and ruthlessly suppressing opposition. By 150 BBY, trade between the Core and the Rim was once again drying up. In an effort to jump-start commerce, the Galactic Senate declared the entire Outer Rim a Free Trade Zone in 124 BBY, but this merely exempted the Trade Federation from local taxation. It moved aggressively into the new Free Trade Zone, crafting arrangements with impoverished sectors that effectively handed over their Senate votes. Other sectors were forced to give up their economic self-determination, becoming perpetual customers for the Trade Federation. The Trade Federation held maps of hyperspace routes closely rather than sharing them, enabling them to cement their hold over trade routes. Only the Jedi and the Office of the Supreme Chancellor were able to maintain maps of similar quality. The Federation had many planetary protectorates throughout the galaxy, often using the ceremonial halls inside their core ships to sign protectorship agreements. Within two generations, the Trade Federation controlled enough Senate votes to hamper competitors, influence the courts, and stall legislation. In 67 BBY it even gained a seat in the Senate on the same level as a member world as a functional constituency, represented by Lott Dod. The Trade Federation gained full voting privileges as part of a deal secretly negotiated by Hego Damask II of Damask Holdings, the alter ego of the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Plagueis, in which they accepted the reform of the Free Trade Zones in the Outer Rim Territories, even though this would cost some of their shipping monopoly and expose them to competition from start-up companies. Though the Trade Federation gained representation in the Galactic Senate in exchange, the leadership remained disgruntled at the loss of some of its monopoly. In 65 BBY, the Trade Federation gained full rights to construct a new spaceport for Theed on the planet Naboo, and to export the planet's newly-discovered plasma resources: as Hego Damask, Darth Plagueis explicitly involved the Trade Federation to reconcile them to the earlier Free Trade Zone Deal. Many on Naboo, however, especially isolationists like Senator Vidar Kim, pointed out that the Trade Federation would sell Naboo's plasma on for ten or even twenty times what it paid for it, and saw the deal as unjust and exploitative. Many on Coruscant bemoaned the Trade Federation's corruption, predatory business practices, and the extinction of representation for the systems it controlled. When Senator Vidar Kim was assassinated by a never-identified Maladian gunman at the behest of Darth Plagueis, many were prepared to suggest that the Trade Federation had in fact been responsible. However, others admired it for the TDF's rapid extinction of piracy on the major hyperlanes. A terrorist group known as the Nebula Front declared its intention to fight the Trade Federation by any means necessary, while the Stark Commercial Combine led by Iaco Stark began raiding Trade Federation convoys and selling pirated goods for a huge markup. In this period, the Neimoidian faction became increasingly influential in the Trade Federation. The Neimoidians who ran the Trade Federation received their organizational skills from running mass hives and fungus farms on their homeworld of Neimoidia and the Neimoidian purse worlds like Cato Neimoidia, Deko Neimoidia, and Koru Neimoidia. 'Stark Hyperspace War' The Stark Hyperspace War of 44 BBY was a turning point for both the Trade Federation and its opponents in the Senate: amid a bacta shortage, Iaco Stark began raiding Trade Federation bacta shipments and selling them on for reduced prices, becoming a hero to many in the Outer Rim. In response, the Trade Federation demanded the right to greater armaments on its merchant ships. However, what appeared to be a simple smuggler conflict was in fact a ruse cooked up between Stark, the Xucphra bacta corporation, and Viceroy Hask, who saw it as an opportunity to cripple the Republic's military forces with Stark's navcomputer virus and so between them achieve economic domination over the galaxy. Senator Finis Valorum called for a peace conference to address the underlying causes of the war. However, aware that the Trade Federation had conspired with Xucphra to manufacture the bacta shortage, and believing that only force would resolve the conflict, Senator Ranulph Tarkin blackmailed Trade Federation Minister Nute Gunray into revealing the conference's location on Troiken. Assembling a fleet, Tarkin raced to Troiken to ambush Stark's forces, but his fleet was decimated by Stark's navcomputer virus and he was forced to go to ground on the planet. As bitter attritional fighting developed on Troiken, a Jedi task force discovered Xucphra and the Trade Federation's conspiracy. On Coruscant, Jedi Master Mace Windu used the information to intimidate Viceroy Hask and Nute Gunray into releasing TDF assets for a counterattack. Stark defected to the Republic and helped end the crisis in exchange for amnesty, but both the Trade Federation and its opponents in the Senate had been radicalized. Hask resigned over the conspiracy and was replaced as Viceroy by Nute Gunray, and the Trade Federation intensified its demands for greater protection on its merchant ships. The entire crisis had in fact been orchestrated by Darth Sidious, apprentice to Darth Plagueis and publicly Senator Palpatine of Naboo. Sidious used the crisis to intensify tensions between the Core Worlds and the Outer Rim systems dominated by the Trade Federation. He would continue manipulating the Trade Federation and its enemies until the galaxy stood on the brink of a war that would destroy the Republic. 'Under the Neiomedians' Over the next decade, the Neimoidian Inner Circle became increasingly influential in the seven-member Trade Federation Directorate, though the Federation only became a Neimoidian monopoly in 33 BBY, when six other members of the Trade Federation Directorate were murdered, leaving only Viceroy Nute Gunray. During this time, the Trade Federation also started building up a droid invasion army in secret. In order to ensure the creation and mobilization of the army was kept secret from the authorities at the Galactic Republic, they referred to the suspicious pieces of equipment as being shipments of the most expensive and latest rendition of binary loadlifters when undergoing checks by the Republic Customs Office. The Federation's growing power and influence led many in the Senate to consider re-imposing taxation on the Outer Rim, effectively abolishing the Free Trade Zones. The Trade Federation was invariably opposed to renewed taxation, and through its senator, Lott Dod, endlessly filibustered Senate debates on the issue. When Alaris Prime was discovered, a droid army under the leadership of Nute Gunray settled on the forest moon to begin stripping its resources and establish a base in the strategically located system, struggling against the moon's native Gundarks. Unaware of the Trade Federation's presence, the Wookiees legally brought colonists to Alaris Prime under the leadership of Attichitcuk, his son Chewbacca, and their friend Shoran. With the help of a Jedi force, the Federation left the moon. In 33 BBY, Darth Sidious was ready to launch his master plan and declared himself to the Neimoidian faction of the Directorate. Sidious both blackmailed and flattered Gunray into accepting a "partnership", relying on his dissatisfaction with the current Directorate, which he felt did not recognise his talents and stymied his plans. Promising Gunray a "surprise promotion", Sidious dispatched his apprentice Darth Maul to the mining world of Dorvalla, where Maul pit the rival companies Lommite Limited and InterGalactic Ore against one another. The Trade Federation had long sought to control the planet's lommite trade, and owing to Maul's actions the two companies merged to form Dorvalla Mining, which soon agreed to allow the Trade Federation to export lommite ore, and to accept Trade Federation representation in the Senate. As a result, Gunray's power was solidified, and so was the hold Sidious had over the Viceroy. Meanwhile, violence between the Nebula Front and the Trade Federation was intensifying. In further conversations with the Viceroy, Darth Sidious demanded that the Neimoidians willingly sacrifice one of their Lucrehulk-class freighters, the Revenue, and its cargo of aurodium ingots worth two billion credits. In a second incident at Dorvalla, a Nebula Front group led by Arwen Cohl raided the Revenue and made off with the cargo, which prompted Nute Gunray to again demand the right to increased protection on the Trade Federation's ships. As Senator Palpatine, Sidious convinced Supreme Chancellor Valorum that renewed taxation was the only way to check the abuses that produced the dissatisfaction that led to the violence of the Nebula Front. As this would effectively abolish the Free Trade Zones that had made the Trade Federation so wealthy, Senator Lott Dod again raised objections and repeated the demand that the Federation be allowed to expand its droid army to defend against the Nebula Front. Palpatine proposed that a summit be held on Eriadu to allow all sides to come to an agreement. Owing to Sidious' manipulations, the summit was an utter disaster: the Trade Federation Directorate's security droids turned their weapons on their charges, killing the entire Directorate but for Gunray and Dod. In the aftermath of the disastrous Eriadu Trade Summit, Gunray proceeded to fill up the vacancies on the Directorate with his Neimoidian puppets, some of whom later comprised the Occupation Council that took control of Theed after the Naboo invasion. Showing little sympathy for the Trade Federation after Eriadu, the Galactic Senate became determined to impose taxation, drafting Senate Resolution BR-0371. The new Queen of Naboo, Padmé Amidala, led the call for new taxation, and Senator Palpatine, knowing it would antagonise the Trade Federation, agreed with his monarch. As Darth Sidious, he contacted Gunray and encouraged him to begin preparations for a blockade of Naboo in protest of the resolution. 'Discovery of Solar System & Earth' About 5 years prior to the Invasion of Naboo in 36 BBY, a Trade Federation battle group was on its way to Eos with war supplies in order to continue the mass production of the Trade Federation Droids at the time, until a meteor shower knocked one of the Vessels off course sending it drifting into a Blackhole where all hands onboard including the Droids onboard were lost, until 2 years later in 34 BBY, when the very same battle group that was bombarded by the Meteor shower, entered the Blackhole in hopes of searching for the lost ship, where not long after contact with them would be servered, however about 5 weeks before declaring the Battle Group lost, the same group returned back through the Black Hole, with the lost and now empty ship that was sucked through back in 36 BBY, where it was then stated by the crew of this battle group, that they ended up in another part of the galaxy that they never saw before, however it was eventually revealed through holgraphic images of the Star Wars Galaxy, that the galaxy or planets that were described by the Battlegroup no longer appeared anywhere on the map, it would be from here that the Trade Federation would discover that the Battlegroup had just discovered a new Galaxy after they went through the Black Hole in order to search for the lost ship, where it was also proven that while they were in this new galaxy, they couldn't get contact with anyone, and the long range Holocron Communicators, that were built to send signals to far portions of the Star Wars Galaxy were not even working at all, revealing to them that they were not in their galaxy anymore during the retrieval process. Following this extraordinary discovery, the Black Hole, that was located in an unknown sector in the Star Wars galaxy eventually became a vast study to the Trade Federation, where they immediately before initiating the Invasion of Naboo, began to send in multiple probes into the wormhole, where the Trade Federation vessel disappeared only to find several dead uncharted planets, including an ocean planet and two gas giants. This discovery would later intrigue the Neimoidians of the force, and the Trade Federation became intrigued with the Planets in the area dealing that they could be perfect colonial planets for Droid Factories and even citizens, but plans to enter this new galaxy were not put into play until the Invasion of Naboo was commenced in 32 BBY. 'Invasion of Naboo' The Federation procured the necessary resources on a number of planets, including Alaris Prime, Esseles, and Eos. Gunray had a brief moment of panic before launching the blockade, fearing the cost of diverting so many ships from trade, though Sidious coldly informed him that any loss of revenues would inevitably be balanced out through the Trade Federation's investors shipping of weapons. Amid the preparations, Deputy Viceroy Hath Monchar attempted to reveal the plot to the Jedi Order, though he was killed by Darth Maul before he could succeed. Two of the Trade Federations member species—the Caarites and the Filordi—felt this blockade would destroy the Federation, so they split off to form the Metatheran Cartel and forced the Federation out of the Cularin system. The Trade Federation's fleet was largely made up of converted Lucrehulk-class freighters, which included 50 conference rooms on the ships' centersphere for trade negotiations. In large part because of this, the Trade Federation when designing the rooms deliberately gave special adaptations to them to specifically place clients at a disadvantage, including the installation of variable gas emitters as well as remote-operated "concentration deficit" chairs to make it difficult for their clients to think clearly. The Executive Board was unwilling to spend more credits (being the thrifty businessmen they were), and chose to convert their enormous commercial freight carriers into formidable, three-kilometer long warships, complete with shields, turbolasers, and military grade communications arrays. Also, the Trade Federation struck deals with numerous species, like the Colicoids and the Xi Char, to construct massive armies for the Federation. Also because of their thriftiness, as well as the development of their droid army around the same time, they also had the air-traffic control rooms for the various ships replace both paid employees and expensive protocol droids with low-maintenance OOM pilot droids to offset the costs. In addition, even in the long awaited and profitable enterprise of battle, the Trade Federation warcraft were still manufactured inexpensively. Unwilling to spend more money on droid brains, the Trade Federation Executive Board controlled their massive armies from a single central control computer aboard a Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship. With Naboo blockaded and beginning to starve, Nute Gunray felt that the Senate would be forced to concede on the issue of taxation. However, while the Senate debated endlessly on the blockade, Supreme Chancellor Valorum secretly requested that two Jedi Knights be dispatched to force a settlement. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived on the flagship Saak'ak and were immediately set upon by poison gas and battle droids. On the orders of Darth Sidious, Gunray began a general invasion of Naboo in an effort to force the Senate to come to terms, expecting that Queen Amidala would easily be induced to sign a capitulation treaty to legitimise the invasion. The Trade Federation Droid Army swiftly secured the major cities and Nute Gunray installed himself as leader of an occupation government in the capital of Theed. The civilian population was largely interned in makeshift prison camps, and with battle droids having little idea of how to care for human beings, sickness and starvation soon set in. With the aid of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, however, Queen Amidala escaped to Coruscant with a small entourage. While she failed to rally the Senate against the Federation, she orchestrated a vote of no confidence against the now largely-powerless Valorum, allowing Naboo's Senator Palpatine to be elected as his successor. Returning to Naboo, Amidala unilaterally set aside ancestral differences with the native Gungans and formed an alliance. In the ensuing battle, the droid control ship was destroyed and the droid army disabled, while Gunray himself was forced by Amidala to sign a new treaty after trapping him in the throne room. Gunray was forced to make a humiliating return to Coruscant to face a Senate investigation, with Panaka also implying while watching him leave that the results of the Senate's investigation may potentially result in the Trade Federation's shutdown. It would not be until over a decade later that it was discovered that invasion had in fact been a massive ruse orchestrated by Darth Sidious to elevate his public persona of Palpatine to the office of Supreme Chancellor. 'Invasion of Earth' Months prior to the Invasion of Naboo, the Trade Federation immediately sent another fleet towards the Unknown system where the Blackhole was located in order to begin its official historical New Galaxy expansion. While under the command of an unidentified Viceroy, that was hand chose by Viceroy Gunray himself, the Trade Federation fleet however was stalled as they only had a small group of over 19 Lucrehulk-class ships, and didn't expect know what they would encounter in the other Galaxy. As a result to counter this problem, the Unidentified Viceroy requested the production of another 20 ships to be constructed along with more Battle droids and equipment by the end of the month, which as a result would be able to grow the fleet to about 39 vessels, as it was stated it would better be prepared as anything could counter or resist them in the other Galaxy, however Eos was attacked by a Squadron that destroyed the factory and Powerplant, further forcing the Unidentified Viceroy to enter the Blackhole anyway without the use of the extra 20 ships. However upon arriving into the new Galaxy with the battlegroup, the Trade Federation received no resistance while on the way to Planet Earth, and were only known to destroy deep space satellites, such as the Orbital telescope, and even the satellites that orbit Jupiter. The Trade Federation later arrived at Earth on August 11th, 1991 (32 BBY In Star Wars Years), and blockaded the planet with its 19 ship fleet, still believing that Earth would try and intercept, not knowing that the Humans of Earth were undergraded and no longer expressed the technology that the Federation had. After the Blockade was commenced the Trade Federation began the ground assault in the North American continent on August 13th, 1991, (Which Ironically was the very same day the Federation Invaded Naboo) where it would later be revealed that the natives of Earth were not as powerful when it came to technology, further giving the Trade Federation a full scale advantage against the Earth Humans. The war would eventually spread out of North America by the end of 1991 where by 1992, the Federation was able to conquer most of South America, Europe and eventually Asia, however by September of 1992, the a rogue Man by the name of launched a desperate counter attack with the use of Nuclear weaponry in a desperate attempt to turn the tide in favor of the Earth Humans, while other nations followed shortly after North America launched its missiles. This counter offensive backfired badly against the Earth humans, as many of the missiles that approached the Trade Federation blockade in orbit were automatically shot down, while those that did hit one of the Lucre-hulk class vessels didn't even graze it. To add insult to injury many other missiles crashed back onto the planet further causing a catastrophic event which killed almost 50 percent of the Human population and eliminated roughly 89 percent of the World's militaries. Despite the destruction caused by the Nuclear Holocaust, the Trade Federation continued their Invasion, which in turn allowed the Federation to gain more territory than it ever did in the early stages, by the end of 1992, the Trade Federation controlled 99 percent of Earth leaving only on minor pockets left in control of the now battered Earth militaries that were now known as Remnants of what they formerly were. Declaring a victory, by 1993, the Viceroy declared Earth under full control of the Trade Federation, despite resistance still striking the Droids downbelow on the surface, and sent the to Viceroy Gunray through the use of messenger ships, however the Trade Federation Invasion forces that were attacking Earth would have no idea, of the Federation's defeat on Naboo 2 years earlier. 'Separatist Crisis' Despite the Naboo expecting that the Senate would revoke the Federation's trade franchise as punishment for the invasion, the Trade Federation retained much of its power. Despite four trials in the Supreme Court, Nute Gunray remained Viceroy. Following the Invasion of Naboo, the Federation began diversifying its fleets, with new destroyers and cruisers using the modular core ships as control cores. 'Occupation of the Solar System' Despite the hardships going on in the Star Wars Galaxy, the Trade Federation battle group that was still operating in the Milky Way, continued its occupation of Earth and the entire Solar System, Neiomedians were even sent down to the planet's surface in order to take control of the prisoner camps, and were also responsible for politics on the planet at the time from 1993 until the destruction of the Karna Maury in 1998. By 1994, the Trade Federation outside of Earth began to colonize the neighboring Planets building Droid Factories, and even began the construction of ship yards and cities, such as Marta on Jupiter, and Magis on Mercury. By 1995, the Trade Federation then established a prison on Pluto, that was meant to house the roughest of Earth Humans that were still resisting their forces on Earth, while another prison was then constructed on Mars by 1996. By 1997 the Trade Federation began to round up Earth Humans after they were shown to be quite skilled in their forms of intelligence and constructive abilities, and began to send some to their home galaxy, where many of them were sent to Lok, in order to be used to work in the Federation's occupied Crater, that was formerly known as Nym's base. Despite this, Earth Humans were sent to other planets in both the Star Wars galaxy and Solar System, including Icarus that was being used by the Trade Federation for mineral resources, for their war efforts and profits, however while all this was going on, the Trade Federation were unable to break through a plot of land on Earth that was known as Tarnorus, it was known to be the last land left in the Earth Human's military possessions, and has been under siege by the Trade Federation since the occupation began in 1993. In January of 1998, the Trade Federation began construction on multiple anti orbital cannons all around the Earth Surface, as by this time, the Unidentified Viceroy was able to learn of the Trade Federation's failure on Naboo years ago, and was since then ordered by Nute Gunray himself through the use of a recorded hologram on a messenger ship, to fortify planet with anti orbital defenses incase anyone tried to attack the Earth, as it was also revealed to Gunray, that multiple Unidentified Flying Objects had been flying in and out of Earth's atmosphere, one even close to the Karna Maury in Earth's Orbit, where it was also discovered that everytime the Trade Federation tried to either intercept, or force them to land for Identification, they would escape their Vulture Droid Starfighters every single time. The first of the Anti Orbital cannons were completed in North America by April 10th, 1998, and were tested after a giant meteor that was just passing Earth had been directed towards the planet by the Karna Maury in Orbit, and was proven to have been a success, where despite the meteor's destruction, the sound of the blast would cause permanent ear damage to Kevin Davidson's ears, while at the same time causing a massive flood within the North American coastline. After the successful test firing of the first giant cannon, multiple Anti Orbital cannons, were developed in Europe, and South America, while others were even created in Asia, where each of them were designed with the same ability to destroy any larger Asteroids or vehicles that ever came close to Earth's Orbit. The Trade Federation however were able to successfully destroy the land and conquer Earth's final stronghold by 1998, further resulting into the complete control of the Earth with no other plots of land left on the planet for resistants cells. However the tide turned when the Earth Humans refused to surrender and launched one last attack against the Federation air base at Meremar, where despite heavy defenses the Earth Human last remnants broke through and took over the airfield, where they later reprogrammed a large squadron of Droid Starfighters sending them to attack the Karna Maury which was the only Lucre-Hulk class vessel left in Earth's Orbit as all the others were being used in other parts of the Solar System to expand the Federation's territory beyond the Solar System, while others were also currently engaged in the Star Wars Galaxy. The reprogramed Vulture Starfighters then proceeded to assault the Karna Maury and destroy the control ship, killing the Viceroy and deactivating nearly 50 percent of the Trade Federation forces on Earth, further weakening its grip on the planet and ending the 5 year occupation. By the end of 1998, the Earth Humans were able to reorganize and quickly recover and began a crushing counter offensive against the battered Federation forces on the planet, resulting into the recall of most of the battlegroup that was spread across the solar system and beyond, however none of the other Federation vessels were able to arrive to reinforce the weakened Trade Federation forces due to the Earth Militaries destroying a vital communications post cutting Earth off from the rest of the Battlegroup. Eventually outnumbered and outgunned, the Trade Federation by 1999 was cornered in New York City with nowhere to escape, leading to an intense siege of the entire region. 'Events leading to the Clone Wars' News of the Federation's near defeat on Earth soon reached the Star Wars Galaxy, through the use of a messenger ship that was able to escape New York's sige, and was able to provide Viceroy Gunray of the grievous news, where he eventually took command of the Trade Federation forces in the Solar System, by sending orders through the messenger ship. In addition, Pammant Docks provided the Trade Federation with massive Providence-class carrier/destroyers, such as the Invisible Hand, which would eventually arrive in the Solar System sometime later. After the collapse of his final trial, and finding knowing how grevious the situation in the other Galaxy was going against the Trade Federation, Nute Gunray approached Count Dooku, who had recently left the Jedi Order over the death of his former apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn on Naboo, and told him what he knew of Darth Sidious. Unbeknownst to Gunray, Dooku had already turned to the dark side of the Force and sworn himself to Sidious as Darth Tyranus, he then made a proposal in which Nute Gunray agreed to have his Federation forces become apart of the CIS, if the CIS were able to send in reinforcements into the Milky Way in order to rescue the Trade Federation's last stronghold on Earth in which Dooku would agree. From 24 BBY, Count Dooku began rallying various systems and corporations to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems on Raxus Prime, and as part of the deal formulated by Viceroy Gunray, the CIS departed from the Star War Galaxy with a fleet of just 13 vessels and arrived on Earth turning the tide against the Earth Humans and conquering the planet that same year reinstating the droid Occupation, while the rest of the Trade Federation battle group that was previously in the galaxy prior to the arrival of the CIS began to deploy its troops in order to make up for the lost ones devastated by the Karna Muary's destruction. However despite this, Nute Gunray agreed that he would become part of the CIS by 22 BBY, where as a result Count Dooku stated that his part of the bargain would be granted if he relinquished control of both Earth and the Solar System to the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Though a bit hesitant at first, Viceroy Gunray agrees, and a Messenger ship would soon be sent to through the Blackhole where command of the Occupation of Earth and the Solar System was then transferred to the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Neimoidian homeworld itself saw significant fighting, catastrophically affecting the long-term population of the species. Following the failure of the Separatist attack on Coruscant, Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, and the Trade Federation representatives on the Separatist Council were evacuated from Utapau to a secret facility on Mustafar. As they had worked with Sidious for well over ten years, Gunray and Haako felt that the Trade Federation had a personal arrangement with Darth Sidious and felt that he would guarantee them peace. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, however, having issued Order 66 to fulfil the Sith Order's long-held dream of destroying the Jedi Order, was on the point of proclaiming himself Emperor. As Sidious, he sent his new apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, now taking the Sith name of Darth Vader, to Mustafar to murder the entire Separatist Council and end the Clone Wars. 'Clone Wars' 'Battle of Geonosis' n 22 BBY on the eve of the Clone Wars, Nute Gunray pledged the Trade Federation's resources to said cause in exchange for the death of Padmé Amidala, as revenge for the fiasco on Naboo. Unfortunately, a botched attempt on Amidala's life by Zam Wesell resulted in Obi-Wan Kenobi tracking a bounty hunter to Geonosis, where Gunray and the other various members of the CIS had gathered. Kenobi was captured, but this merely resulted in Anakin Skywalker and Amidala setting out to rescue Kenobi. Eventually, these events spiraled into Mace Windu leading a Jedi attack on the arena where the prisoners were about to be executed, much to Gunray's dismay. Upon Yoda's arrival with a large clone army, it descended into a full scale battle, starting off the Clone Wars between the Confederacy and the Republic.24 The Trade Federation was unable to break off now, and soon Federation automata formed much of the CIS army. 'The Course of the War' The Federation officially claimed neutral status in the Clone Wars, and indeed Lott Dod continued to represent it in the Senate. However, the Federation was clearly a major military and financial contributor to the Confederacy, with Dod taking instructions from Count Dooku. During the Battle of Ryloth, Dod deliberately attempted to stymie the Republic's diplomatic efforts towards Toydaria to deny it as a staging ground against Separatist forces attacking Ryloth. The Trade Federation was a major investor in reactivating the Geonosis droid foundries, while its blockade of Pantora, ostensibly done in the name of debt collection, was an attempt to force the moon into the CIS. During the course of the war, the planet Rosha was deeply involved with the Trade Federation. While the Trade Federation provided the vast majority of the CIS' military assets, including B1 and B2 battle droids and Droidekas, as a business it was highly reluctant to spend more credits than were absolutely necessary to upgrade the droids. Consequently, B1 battle droids were pushed into specialized roles to which they were unsuited, such as warship crewers, pilots, gunners, and emergency responders. Gunray's own dismissive attitude to droids caused him to regard the cyborg Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies, General Grievous, as little more than another worker drone. The enraged Grievous nearly killed Gunray before Dooku intervened. 'Joint Occupation of the Solar System' Despite agreeing to the terms in the Star Wars Galaxy for the Joint Occupation of the Solar System, with most of the CIS controlling Earth and most of the Trade Federation's former Colony planets that they established in the mid to late 90's, the Trade Federation still held parts of Eastern Europe, but tensions soon began to escalate amongst the two factions in which the Trade Federation and Confederacy of Independent Systems couldn't agree on how to run Earth, as both wished to run it at a different aspect, the Trade Federation wished to continue to use Earth Humans as a labor force, while the CIS wanted to use them as factory workers and inventive architects for the CIS's war effort against the Galactic Republic in the Star Wars Universe during the Clone Wars. Tensions soon reached the breaking point by 2001, when Trade Federation forces attacked a field and destroyed a CIS fuel refinery beginning a civil war between the Droid factions. Despite maintaining a strong defense however, the Trade Federation was defeated and thrown off of Earth as a result, further causing heavy skirmishes to occur within the Solar System, this event was discovered by the Separatist Council and Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation was able to devise a plan for the CIS to continue to keep control of Earth while the Trade Federation held at least 3 planets in the Solar System, this plan is enough to prevent a full scale civil war from erupting in the Solar System between the Trade Federation and Confederacy of Independent Systems, as the Trade Federation maintained control of Mars, Saturn, and Uranus, while still jointly holding Venus, Mercury and Icarus with the CIS. 'Republic Locate the Blackhole' By 19 BBY, as the war started to take a bad turn against the CIS, the role of the Trade Federation's involvment in the conflict was scrapped, and Viceroy Gunrayt ordered all Trade Federation forces to return to the blackhole in order to reinforce the Solar System Occupation forces that were currently there, however the massive fleet wouldn't go unknoticed by the Republic, and a small battlegroup was sent in in order to locate and report back on Trade Federation activitiy within the unknown system of space, that was never marked on any of the official galaxy holomaps. However while moving through the Blackhole, a single Republic Battlegroup, that was scouting out the CIS presence in the unknown system, was able to locate the Trade Federation fleet leaving the galaxy through the blackhole, and followed them into the solar system, which resulted in the Republic's discovery of the Solar System and the blackhole. Despite this, the Republic battlegroup was quickly picked up by the CIS and destroyed, but not before a single beacon was shot through the blackhole back into the star wars system alerting the Republic of the location of the Blackhole. However, one Republic ship was able to escape the CIS attack, and slip through a weak spot in the CIS lines, however the ship was chased by the CIS battlegroup that destroyed its battlegroup, where the vessel itself came under fire by a Trade Federation patrol in front of the Earth's Moon, where its engines were damaged after a hyperspace jump, where as a result the ship arrived in Earth's orbit, under heavy fire from a Trade Federation Lucre-Hulk class vessel that was stationed above the planet at the time, and was eventually shot down by the Droid Control ship, where the one Republic Ship would eventually crash into the Alps in Southern Europe. 'Early Skirmishes on Earth' 'End of the Conflict & Attempted Exodus' 'Solar System Conflict' 'Siege of Mars' 'Battle of Mercury' 'Assault on the Moon' 'Battle of Earth' Associations 'Battle droids' *''B-series battle droid'' **''B1 battle droid'' **''B2 super battle droid'' **''Battle droid assassin'' *''Beetle droid'' *''E4 baron droid'' *''Droideka'' **''P-series destroyer droid'' **''W-series droideka'' *''OOM-series battle droid'' **''OOM command battle droid'' **''OOM pilot battle droid'' **''OOM security battle droid'' **''Droid marine'' *''Trade Federation probe'' *''Turret droid'' Organic forces *''Neimoidian Gunnery Battalion'' *''Neimoidian Home Defense Legion'' *''Trade Defense Force'' **''TDF officers'' Starfighters *E-STAP Droid Starbomber *E-STAP Advanced Droid Starbomber *E-STAP Shielded Droid Starbomber *''Scarab''-class droid starfighter *Vulture droid starfighter *Advanced Droid Starfighter *Light droid starfighter *Trade Federation droid bomber Ground units *AML *AMT *Armored Assault Tank *Armored Scout Tank *Bio cannon *HAG-M *HAML *HHAG-M *Heavy Armored Assault Tank *Heavy Artillery Gun *Heavy Single Trooper Aerial Platform *Mechanized Assault Flyer *Multi-Troop Transport *Multi-Utility Transport *MVR-3 speeder bike *Neimoidian trader *OX9 labor droid *Single Trooper Aerial Platform *Speeder platform *Trade Federation troop carrier *Trade Federation pummel *XT Beetle Transport Aquatic units *''Manta'' droid subfighter *''Ostracoda''-class gunboat *OTT *Mini-sub *Submarine *Sub-carrier *Patrol boat *S-AAD *S-CRS *S-DST *S-FRG *S-HAAD *S-HCRS *S-HDST *S-HFRG *S-LFRG Aerial units *LAATAK *Mechanized Assault Flyer Capital ships *''Lucrehulk''-class battleship *''Lucrehulk''-class core ship *''Lucrehulk''-class cruiser *''Lucrehulk''-class destroyer *''Lucrehulk''-class Droid Control Ship *''Providence''-class carrier/destroyer *Trade Federation Cruiser (Second Battle of Lok) *Trade Federation heavy munitions cruiser *Trade Federation Missile Frigate Support craft *C-9979 landing craft *''Lucrehulk''-class LH-3010 cargo freighter *''Lucrehulk''-class LH-3210 cargo freighter *''Lucrehulk''-class tanker *Neimoidian transport *''Sheathipede''-class transport shuttle *Trade Federation heavy munitions cruiser *Trade Federation cargo hauler *Trade Federation Dropship *Venia Dropship *Trade Federation escort cruiser *Trade Federation Freighter *Trade Federation gunship *Trade Federation ship *Trade Federation shuttle *Trade Federation Superfreighter *Trade Federation transport *Droch-class boarding ship Controlled planets *Alaris Prime *Cato Neimoidia *Deko Neimoidia *Druckenwell *Earth (Discovered by the Federation in 36 BBY, and Invaded in 32 BBY which in Earth Time would be 1991, occupies planet until 1998 that would be 24 BBY in Star Wars years, where its Armies were shut down and almost destroyed by a counter attack by the Native forces of the Planet in 1999, 23 BBY in Star Wars time Control shifted to the CIS by 1999, still held planets in parts of the Solar System, and still claims responsibility of Earth being one of its colonies despite the 1998 event and the Confederacy of Independent Systems taking over their occupation) *Enarc *Eos *Koru Neimoidia *Maramere *Mirial *Naboo (32 BBY Until they were forced off by the Royal Naboo Security forces) *Neimoidia *Nessem *Sucharme Allied companies *Baktoid Armor Workshop *Baktoid Combat Automata *Colicoid Creation Nest *Dorvalla Mining *Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc. *Tagge Company *Techno Union *Viraxo Industries *Commerce Guild *Corporate Alliance *InterGalactic Banking Clan Trivia Category:Factions Category:Far Away War Category:Dark Side